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From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in Delta State has exonerated one Apostle Michael Akpo and two police officers over the alleged murder of one Charles Okpako and one Ejiro Ekpeipovwe.
The exonerated officers include Inspector Ignatius Aghaze and ASP Mesoro Victor. They were suspected to have allegedly shot at the deceased on a tricycle on July 12, 2023 at Ugbolokposo in Uvwie Local Government Area.
But the DPP office exonerated the officers and Apostle Akpo after reviewing the case file, submitting that a prima facie case was not established against the suspects.
In a statement on Tuesday, Public Relations Officer of the state police command, DSP Bright Edafe, recalled that the case was transfered to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for thorough investigation.
Edafe said investigation revealed that the tricycle rider stated that he was shot by policemen on escort duty but did not see their faces
“The eye witness, Festus Ebereri who stated that he was there and could identify the vehicle the Apostle used on the same date if seen could not identify the said vehicle during the identification parade of the Apostle’s vehicle when placed alongside four other similar vehicles while the police officer whom he alleged to have pulled the trigger was clearly on another assignment on the day of the incident, so he was neither in Ugbolokposo nor with the Apostle at the time of the incident
“The Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage confirmed that Apostle Michael Akpor came out of his vehicle to the church premises at about 1200 hours and entered the vehicle to leave the church premises at about 2100 hours.
“Upon completion of the investigation, a duplicate case file was submitted to the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) for relevant advice. It is pertinent to note that the DPP, having done a painstaking review of the case file submitted categorically that there is no ‘prima facie’ case of the offense of murder against Apostle Michael Akpo and Inspector Ignatius Aghaze and ASP Mesoro Victor.
“The Commissioner of Police Delta State, CP wale Abass, extends his condolences to their families, and assures that the command is fully committed to conducting a thorough investigation into the death, and further promises to unveil the identities of the suspected uniform security officers involved in the heinous act,” the statement read.
Edafe seized the opportunity to advice the general public against engaging in cyber stalking, noting that the act violates the Cyber Crime Act, 2015.
He warned that “any person or group of persons, especially media personalities, bloggers and social media influencers, who are in the constant attitude of stalking fellow citizens over the internet, that they should desist from such acts, or else they would be promptly arrested and prosecuted accordingly.”
